An island of no borders, no trade rules, no red tape

PHILIPSBURG, Saint Maarten — The first indicator I had there might be a fight for taxis and busses was when Staff Captain Patrick Jukes on Royal Caribbean’sOasis of the Seas sent me a note saying the day he was here last week, NINE ships were in port.

When I arrived on the Celebrity Eclipse there were six, more than enough to cause a few Christmas traffic jams.

St. Maarten and Saint-Martin form the smallest land mass in the world that is owned by two countries. In this case the Dutch and the French, respectively. No borders, no trade rules, simply no red tape.

I went to Philipsburg early, having bought a $7 unlimited water taxi card from the ship to downtown. I

Marigot, the pretty French capital of Saint-Martin

had been in Philipsburg a couple of times so, for $8, I knew I could take a mini tour bus to Marigot, the capital on the French side of this island.

Saint-Martin (French) is the home of Orient Beach, one of the highest-rated beaches in the world, according to most critics’ top 10. Part of the beach is for bathers wearing a bathing suit, and part of it is not (read: nude). I spent some time at the beach — guess which part!!! — then it was off to a

Boats of all kinds in Marigot, Saint-Martin

particular place for lunch, on the waterfront where boats power and sail, many from Europe, and where the open markets are located.

Creole lunch at Rosemary’s; chicken, ribs, spicy rice and plantain

That’s where I was heading.

It’s also the area home to several small, outdoor restaurants, all enticing you to pull up a chair and try their food. However, I was committed to one spot — Rosemary’s. I picked it simply because, about nine years ago, Anthony Bourdain had talked about this hole-in-the-wall restaurant as one of his favourites.

There might be better restaurants but at that moment I dug into Rosemary’s creole chicken and ribs, along with spicy rice and plantain, I could think of no better place to be eating. Rosemary had plenty of local fish dishes but I

The menu at Rosemary’s…and Rosemary

had been into fish on several of the islands so I was ready for some of this New Orleans style cooking.

It doesn’t always work when you travel a distance to find one particular recommendation but, in this case, it really did.

A few entries from my notebook…

• If in a van with three or more it shouldn’t cost you more than $8 one-way to go from the ship to Marigot — a bit more for Orient Beach. Prices are clearly marked in the van and taxi area.

• You can walk from the ship to Philipsburg — my guess it’s about a half-mile.

• A day pass on the water taxi is $7 to the Dutch capital.

• If you’re driving around the island, be prepared for slow traffic at times when there’s a lot of ships in port.